My house of Jazz exploration

Donald Ryan Performs at The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame Sunday November 30

Biographical material from various sources refers to Tulsa’s Donald Ryan as “the master of diverse styles” and “a musical kaleidoscope, sparkling at everything he plays.” Anyone who’s seen and heard a Ryan solo piano performance knows the truth in both of those statements.

Of course, someone – and there aren’t many – who can play that many different kinds of music has to know a lot of songs. And Donald Ryan does.

“I’ve been asked, `How many tunes do you know?'” he says. “And, wow, I’d have to say it’s certainly in the hundreds, maybe the thousands, because I’ve been playing piano for so long.”

In fact, Ryan’s been at it since age three, when he took up the keyboard in the twin island country of Trinidad and Tobago, where he was born. That’s also where he first heard Christmas carols…